Category Archives: human rights

Hillary Clinton Urges Silicon Valley to ‘Disrupt’ ISIS – The New York Times

Noting the Islamic State’s use of social media to recruit followers, Mrs. Clinton, at the Saban Forum, said “We need to put the great disrupters at work at disrupting ISIS.”

Source: Hillary Clinton Urges Silicon Valley to ‘Disrupt’ ISIS – The New York Times

Humans of New York

“I knew immediately after my husband’s death that I would have to let go of my dreams. I fell into a deep depression. I was going to be a single mother so I’d have to focus everything on raising my child. I thought that I would never be able to do anything in my life again. I skipped the orientation for the German university. I missed my German language lessons. Everything seemed to be slipping away. I gave birth to my daughter and moved in with my parents. When I saw my daughter, I realized that I needed to get my life back on track. She’d already lost her father. I didn’t want her to lose her mother too. So I enrolled at the University of Damascus and continued with my studies. I graduated once again at the top of my class. I began to work as a professor while I applied for my PhD. My daughter was getting bigger. Everything seemed to be getting back on track. Then the war came.”

Source: Humans of New York

Mimi Writes…….: Monday Mimisms ~ Chasing Happy

Happy.

I’ll keep reaching.  But what used to make me happy only scratches the surface these days. What’s underneath in the pages of years gone by is where the real substance lies in all of us. Other people need that Well. And as you age, you learn to keep the sacred parts to yourself for those bubbly moments in the middle of the day that make you smile and give away the residual parts borne of your own struggles to others. You are no longer restless. There’s a contentment that comes with some living.  It doesn’t matter how you lived so much anymore, but why you lived and who you loved.Can I make someone else happy today?I hope so.  That’s the real happy.

Source: Mimi Writes…….: Monday Mimisms ~ Chasing Happy

Michigan GOPer Blames School Problems On Black Children | Crooks and Liars

Yes, you read that right. Poor kids and children who aren’t white are the reasons school districts fail. It has absolutely nothing to do with funding or the state’s commitment to helping those children succeed.

Source: Michigan GOPer Blames School Problems On Black Children | Crooks and Liars

Humans of New York from Syria to Turkey to FLA! 

“We are going to a place called Clearwater, Florida. I don’t know a lot about it. I saw Florida on the television and it looks like it’s close to the sea and has a lot of plants. My dad says the people are friendly and there are a lot of friendly kids there. I really hope that we can have a small farm and a horse when we get there because my grandmother really loves animals. I’d like it to be a square farm with lots of flowers and rabbits. I also hope there is a good tree in Florida because I’d like to build a tree house where we can have some adventures.”(Istanbul, Turkey)

Source: Humans of New York

Israeli justice minister defends NGO bill to Bundestag | News | DW.COM | 05.12.2015

{“People I fear and disagree with will have to wear name tags so people will know to be wary of them.” Could be said in 1933 Germany and now in 2015 Israel.}

In her letter, however, Shaked insisted that the tagging was a democratic and justifiable move: “I believe that encouraging a vibrant civil society includes prompting freedom of information and increasing of transparency of public activities.””Both the law and the recent government bill do not prohibit or impose any restriction on receiving the contributions themselves,” she stated, adding that “there is nothing in the law or the bill to substantially change the existing situation in Israel or harm the democratic process.”

Source: Israeli justice minister defends NGO bill to Bundestag | News | DW.COM | 05.12.2015

Muslims in America Condemn Extremists and Fear Anew for Their Lives – The New York Times

in recent weeks, American Muslims have reported a spate of violence and intimidation against them: women wearing head scarves accosted; Muslim children bullied; bullets shot at a mosque in Meriden, Conn.; feces thrown at a mosque in Pflugerville, Tex.Omair Siddiqi said he had been about to get into his car in the parking lot of a shopping mall in the Dallas suburbs last month when a man came up to him, flashed a gun and said, “If I wanted to, I could kill you right now.”Mr. Siddiqi said he stayed quiet and the man walked away. Mr. Siddiqi called 911 and is now in the process of getting a concealed-handgun permit. “It’s very scary in times like this,” he said.In a Dallas suburb, about a dozen protesters congregated outside the Islamic Center of Irving last month, some covering their faces with bandannas and carrying hunting rifles, tactical shotguns and AR-15s. The group that organized the protest posted on Facebook a list of the names and addresses of dozens of Muslims and what they called “Muslim sympathizers.”

Source: Muslims in America Condemn Extremists and Fear Anew for Their Lives – The New York Times

End the Gun Epidemic in America – The New York Times

It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency. These are weapons of war, barely modified and deliberately marketed as tools of macho vigilantism and even insurrection. America’s elected leaders offer prayers for gun victims and then, callously and without fear of consequence, reject the most basic restrictions on weapons of mass killing, as they did on Thursday. They distract us with arguments about the word terrorism. Let’s be clear: These spree killings are all, in their own ways, acts of terrorism.

Source: End the Gun Epidemic in America – The New York Times

Humans of New York

“He cried a lot as a baby. By the age of two he wasn’t speaking or eating. Our local doctor didn’t know what was wrong, but we found a good doctor in Damascus, and he told us that our son had autism. The doctor recommended a therapist. On the first day of therapy, he was too scared to even enter the office. But after a few months of treatment, he was able to concentrate and even write the alphabet. He went to therapy every week for the next few years. It was really helping him. He was learning so many things. But when the war came, the roads were closed. We couldn’t go to therapy anymore. The bombs affected him very badly. He gets scared easily. He’s even afraid of the dark. But the bombs scared him very much. He hasn’t been to therapy for years. We have no money or insurance here in Turkey. We are very isolated. It seems that all the progress has been undone. He used to want to learn. He used to get his books out of the bag and bring them to us. But now he just throws them away. He can’t sit still. I’m afraid that we’ve lost too much time now. But my husband is optimistic. He thinks that we will find the right doctor in America.”

Source: Humans of New York

Horror in San Bernardino: The U.S. infatuation with guns is bordering on a society-wide suicidal impulse – LA Times

Fourteen dead and 17 wounded in San Bernardino, according to the early reports. And that follows just five days after the attack on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., in which three people died and nine were wounded. A month earlier, nine people were slain at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. In August, eight people were shot dead in a house outside Houston. In June, nine people were gunned down at a prayer meeting in a Charleston, S.C., church. In May, nine people were killed in a shootout among police and bikers in Waco, Texas. And on it goes.

Source: Horror in San Bernardino: The U.S. infatuation with guns is bordering on a society-wide suicidal impulse – LA Times